UN Signs Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
The United Nations on this day signed the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
Although the Convention was modeled after the U.S. Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA, July 26, 1990), the U.S. Senate has not ratified the Convention because of conservative opposition. See, for example, December 5, 2012, for a failed vote on ratification.
On December 3, 1982, the United Nations declared December 3rd the International Day of Disabled Persons.
Key provisions: “States Parties shall prohibit all discrimination on the basis of disability and guarantee to persons with disabilities equal and effective legal protection against discrimination on all grounds.”
“States Parties recognize that women and girls with disabilities are subject to multiple discrimination, and in this regard shall take measures to ensure the full and equal enjoyment by them of all human rights and fundamental freedoms.”
“Every person with disabilities has a right to respect for his or her physical and mental integrity on an equal basis with others.”
Read the complete UN Convention: http://www.un.org/disabilities/convention/conventionfull.shtml
Learn more: Kim Nielsen, A Disability History of the United States (2012)
Learn more at the National Disability Rights Network: http://www.ndrn.org/index.php
And more at the Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund: http://dredf.org/